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Bill proposing 20-yr jail term for electoral offenders passes second reading
A bill for the establishment of a National Electoral Offences Commission which proposes a 20-year jail term for electoral offenders passed second reading on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Abubakar Kyari (APC, Borno), also proposes N40 million in lieu of the 20-year jail for any candidate, person or agent who destroyed electoral materials during election.
Kyari’s sponsored bill also seeks to prohibit hate speech or words that incite violence during elections and proposes 10 years or a fine of at least N40m or both for offenders.
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Furthermore, the new bill is also proposing a term of 15 years on anyone found guilty of “destroying, snatching or opening a ballot box when you are not so authorised.”
If the proposed bill is passed, a person shall be jailed for 15 years if, without due authority takes out at polling station any electoral document, or he is found in possession of any electoral document outside a polling station.
During plenary, Senate President Ahmad Lawan and other lawmakers advocated punitive penalties for electoral offences as the in their contributions, said the electoral commission should exist along with a special tribunal to prosecute electoral offences.
They said establishing a tribunal would sanitise the electoral process, deepen Nigeria’s democracy and bring an end to impunity associated with elections.
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